The Will To Be Strong
by Tazski
Summary: 'Be strong, shrimp' he had said. 3 years. 3 long years honouring the silence, dishonouring his last words. Lucy's words never had an effect on her, until her outburst today. Maybe today was the right time to tell everyone what really happened to Gajeel. To honour him and become strong...for his sake. GaLe, Rated T for safety.


**A/N: Lol, on a roll today! I only meant to write a Jerza oneshot, but somehow started including GaLe in it, so I wrote a separate oneshot for it. It's a lot shorter than the Jerza one and really depressing, sorry! I almost cried writing this. Plus, it might be a bit spoilerish so you haven't read Chapter 297, you might not wanna be careful. **

**Summary: 'Be strong, shrimp' he had said. 3 years. 3 long years honouring the silence, dishonouring his last words. Lucy's words never had an effect on her, until today. Maybe today was the right time to tell everyone what really happened to Gajeel. To honour him and become strong. GaLe, T.**

**My first ever GaLe oneshot, btw. I might try writing a Gruvia/Lyuvia one soon :D do tell me what you think of this, though. Yeah, it might be a bit OOC- no scrap that, very OOC. But writing IC can get dull sometimes _**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, troll-level saint Mashima Hiro-sensei does.**

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Lucy sighed, taking another sip of her strawberry shake, marvelling at the silence of the guild. Natsu and Gray were nowhere to be seen, Juvia was going crazy, and Erza was pacing from side to side.

She walked over to Levy, who was leaning against a wall, lost entirely in her own world, a book lying abandoned by her side, an unusual occurrence for her. Lucy decided the time was ripe to try and talk to Levy again.

"Levy." Lucy sat down besides her, as the bluenette remained oblivious to the blonde.

"Levy," she tried again. "Please... please listen to me, Levy. I know I've said this a million times now, but it's no use revelling in the past. We're your present, your future! We're your nakama! You can't just give up on life like this, right?"

Levy remained as silent as always, giving no indication that she was listening to Lucy.

"My father died!" she yelled in desperation. "We hated each other all our lives, and just when he was beginning to care for me, I went missing for 7 years, only to return and find he'd moved on...how do you think I felt, Levy? How do you think I felt, never being able to tell my father...how much I loved him? That he died thinking I was dead, and never had cared about him?" She shook her head in disgust.

"He died thinking his only daughter hated his guts," she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks. "How do you think that _feels_?"

"Unfulfilling," Levy replied, her voice monotonous, speaking for the first time in almost 3 years.

Everyone looked at her, surprised.

"Levy! You-" Jet and Droy began in unison, but Lucy held up a hand to stop them.

"You have to be stronger, Levy," Lucy urged her. "You can't let yourself, go"

_Be strong, shrimp._

"Strong," the bluenette repeated, her voice still monotonous, her eyes cast down.

"Look at Jet and Droy," Lucy said. Droy had lost all his weight in the space of three months worrying about Lucy, and Jet was ashen –faced, a sign of sickness. "They're physically falling sick, worrying about you! You can't just dwell on that day!"

Lucy herself had tried her best to forget it- after the chaos of the Eclipse Plan, she had gone missing for 6 months- only to receive a letter from Levy, telling her that Gajeel, the Master, and Gildarts had all been killed. She'd rushed back to Fairy Tail to find it in chaos- the ruckus and fracas that was Fairy Tail's trademark was gone- everyone went on individual jobs, refused to speak to one another, and spent as little time in the guild as possible.

Not everyone had been able to forget the same way she had. Laxus had left Fairy Tail and never come back- rumours had circulated that he'd been killed on a 100-year job, and Cana, Gildarts daughter, had stopped drinking. As much as she thought her father crazy, weird, insane even, she still had loved him, and he had been her father. After the loss of 3 powerful members, Fairy Tail had become a disorganised array of chaos, which hadn't been restored.

The guild fell silent, remembering the horrific events of July 7th, the day they had lost to destiny.

Everyone's eyes fell immediately onto Panther Lily, Gajeel's cat, who was still sat in the same corner, as always, a blank expression on his face. Levy was sitting beside him, her numerous scars visible, a reminder of her failure. She looked up for the first time, tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Levy, I didn't mean to..." Lucy mumbled, feeling guilty.

"It's okay, Lu-chan," she whispered, forcing a grimace. "Maybe..." she began, gulping loudly. "Maybe it's time I told you what really happened in the graveyard. She hesitated for a moment- nobody had known the details, only that her dear Gajeel had passed on. She continued to stroke the headband that Gajeel had given her, once again blissfully unaware of the world and its surroundings. Deep inside, her heart continued to ache, another persistent reminder of what she had failed to accomplish.

"_Gajeel!" GAJEEL!" Levy screamed, running across the bones, which made a sickening crunch underneath her delicate feet._

"_What...what're you doing here?" he gasped, as the tiny girl lay his head and shoulders in her lap, softly dabbing at his injuries, causing him to wince. He housed numerous cuts and bruises, but worst of all was the pool of blood blossoming from the middle of his chest, dripping his life away. She could feel the hole in the back of his shirt, and an indent suggesting he'd been stabbed through his body. How he was still speaking was a miracle._

"_What do you think I'm doing..." she muttered, trying to wipe away the tears. _

"_Oi, shrimp, listen to me-"_

"_No," Levy replied stubbornly._

"_Oi-"_

"_NO! Gajeel Redfox, I don't want to hear another word-" her words were cut off, and her eyes grew wide as Gajeel sat up, coughing fist-sized amounts of blood._

"_Listen," he croaked, his breathing laboured. "It's dangerous here- for everyone. This is a dragon graveyard, got it? Go straight to the Master- no, listen to me- straight to the Master, and tell him...tell him what's down here. Do you understand?"_

_Levy could only nod her head in the affirmative, the tears were streaming down her cheeks by now._

"_Now go."_

"_Gajeel-"_

"_Levy McGarden, you listen to me right now," he demanded. Levy's eyes grew wide once more at the use of her full name, rather than the customary 'midget' or 'shrimp'. "Whatever's down here...it'll get you too, you understand?" Gajeel attempted to raise himself out of his arms, and seeing his struggles, Levy helped him up, until he was in a kneeling position, his red eyes full of pain, Levy kneeling beside him. _

_He looked into her eyes once, knowing he didn't have much time left._

"_Give me that," he asked, glancing at her forehead, which was adorned with the headband from the Games. "And take mine off."_

"_But why?" she asked, before obliging._

"_Now put yours on my head and you take mine," he ordered. Again, Levy obliged._

_Soon, the two had swapped headbands, and Gajeel's eyes were drooping from the loss of blood. In Levy's words, the eternal sleep was calling him._

_He leant towards her, causing her to freeze in surprise, before he gently kissed her on the forehead._

"_Ga-Gajeel..." she spluttered, unable to comprehend the wave of hopelessness washing over her. He looked into her eyes for the last time._

"_Stay strong...shrimp," were his last words, before his eyes shut for the last time, and he slump forwards into her arms, lifeless._

"_Gajeel..." Levy started, shaking his arms. He remained as a dead weight in her arms._

"_Gajeel, this isn't funny!"_

"_Gajeel Redfox, wake up right now or else I'll...I'll..." she stammered, before the realisation hit her._

_Levy remained silent for a moment, before letting out an earth shattering cry that echoed off the blood-stained walls of the large graveyard._

_Gajeel was gone._

Levy finished narrating, much to uncontrollable sobs. Lucy hugged the bluenette, holding her close, soothing her.

"It's okay Levy..." she murmured assuringly. "We're all here, aren't we? You just have to remain strong, right?"

Relating the events of the graveyard had lifted a weight off Levy, a sense of relief beginning to emanate from her.

_Be strong, shrimp_

Levy pulled herself away from the blonde, standing up, determinedly staring at everyone.

_I will be strong, _she thought_._ _I will be strong for your sake...Gajeel._

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** Review, pl0x?**


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